Cleanse Over . . . Onwards & Upwards

I finished the cleanse and loved it. It seems to fall into place just right for me. The most amazing thing was giving up coffee. I never thought that would happen and it's the reason I didn't do so many other cleanses that came my way. As a yoga instructor living in earthy crunchy Denver, Colorado, there was no shortage of opportunity. There are countless health and wellness practitioners, yoga studios, and friends that have done the cleanse, but until my friend Shruthi at Cardamom Kitchen offered this long distance from Philadelphia, I didn't trust anyone with my odd and addictive eating ways.

I am amazed at the changes I have made content wise as well. I truly think twice about what I'm putting in my mouth (really new) and only eat a few bites of "bad food."

I've been inspired to follow through with this by joining Farrell's eXtreme Bodyshaping and my cleanse blog will now morph into the FullFiguredYogi doing a kickboxing workout 3 days a week and resistance band training the other 2. I have a free eating day. . . but the other days I eat a mix of carbs & proteins. Woo hoo. Change is a' comin. Ya gotta start somewhere, right? Back at ya soon.

Day 5: Khicadi Is Great-E

Nice quiet day yesterday. I spent more time readying the house for the banquet, including some outside work. I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep on eating the buckwheat with cinnamon, cardamom and raisins even after this is through. I drank the entire amount of the digestive tea and had to get up 3 times in the night, and one time with the dog, but that's unrelated.

I was ravenous by lunch, but was patient and had the khicadi with chard, shallots, and cabbage. Wanted another bowl, but again, gave it some time and was fine without it. I had berries and pineapple for a snack.

Carter had lacrosse and finished at 5:30. Dave picked up his daughter Jackie and they decided to eat at Chipotle. I went along not intending to eat, but was super hungry and had the posole soup bowl with rice. They do have brown rice, but this was a violation of the tomato policy. I think it's okay and I won't do it again. . .

Days 3 and 4: Blah-ging

Zero problems Sunday. Love the buckwheat; managed on one cup of java. Did some gardening - planting some geraniums, columbine, something I forget and pansies. My husband did most of the work, but he had to leave for his son's senior banquet. I visited my mostly raw girlfriend and she gave me some great tips for after the cleanse and some kale.

Monday is my only busy day -- the other days I usually just putter around the house getting housework done, my accounting work for the studio and working on the website or the studio software. I knew it would be difficult, so I ate breakfast according to plan at 8A, had some berries at 10:30, then off to teach my noon class. It was a small class so I practiced quite a bit and felt okay if a little sluggish. Got home at 1:30 and made my lunch with a brown rice bowl, cabbage, and shallot. Did my 100 steps after the meal tidying up, then took a rest with the dogs on the big red couch. I really like the 100 steps part because I do tend to just flop in front of the computer or TV after having eaten.

Rose at 2:45 to pick up the kids. Wasted 15 precious minutes in the cluster-flip parking lot and got my son to his math tutoring session 5 minutes late. Dropped my daughter off with a key and she made it into the house with no troubles. (Big milestone!) Whole Foods is nearby so I went off armed with a list that I couldn't get at Sprouts . . . the WF employees were very helpful. Got lots of fruit because the kids love dessert and I feel like I'm cooking or cleaning non-stop doing two meal plans. A "normal" grocery store trip takes me 20 minutes maximum, but this WF trip was almost an hour since I don't know what the hell I'm buying nor do I know where it is. Additionally, I got the few groceries my family had put on the list.

Tutoring session over and we get home -- I start my khicadi, I decide to double it since Wednesday we have the volleyball banquet at our house. I got Dave and the kids frozen pasta with jarred sauce, frozen corn, and made a huge fruit salad with a little Agave syrup. Again, a fruit snack, fed the family at 6, checked the khicadi before I go and it's still soup. . . Oh well, off to teach my favorite hot class. Felt pretty good -- class was great. Two newish students so I did some adjusting on them, but my regulars could practically teach it themselves.

Home at 9:15. Khicadi is still soup, so I guess it's supposed to be that way. Dull as dishwater, darn it, but it's food. I got frustrated and strained out the water, leaving a more substantial dish that I added red cabbage and onion to and ate. My husband tasted it and said it needed salt. I replied that I can't have more salt. He nicely got me a glass of water and laughed when I told him I couldn't have ice. He not only did the dishes from the kids and my preliminary cooking, he did the dishes from my final meal. I asked him why he was being so nice and he said in a doctorly way that he didn't want me passing out from low blood pressure due to no salt in my diet.

I reminded him it's only 4 days. . .

I know it's against the plan, but I had more fruit before going to bed. Kill me now.

Day 2 - Cleanseliness is Next to Godliness

Lord help me, I had a cup of coffee. Shruthi gasped, then laughed when I told her I had 6 cups a day, and that's a low estimate, so I don't feel too bad. My son's lacrosse team was freezing, on an unprotected hill with whipping wind at 9AM. It was so cold that my cold loving ex got in the truck. I stuck it out. I have lots of insulation, remember.

Had a JEN (Just Energy Nutrients) bar on the way (sorry, Shruthi - on the go is my only option sometimes.) Watched Carter's team lose by 2 points I think. He said I looked like a tool. Thanks, sonny boy. Guess a stocking cap, Simon Cowl neck hoodie, ski coat, and 2 pair of workout pants aren't in for lacrosse parent wear.

To view a class to add at the studio, I signed up for a free week at 24 Hour Fitness. The willPower & Grace class was great - kind of like yoga, but more challenging and faster. My glutes are still sore! I went today to another 24 Hour by the lacrosse game and did 5 upper body machines that were super cool and 30 minutes on the treadmill, alternating running and walking.

I was supposed to go to a friend's house this afternoon as she's done several cleanses and I wanted her input. She also recently broke up with her boyfriend. She was eating completely raw for a while and now mostly is, so is a good resource for me. She knows the value and control I put on food and is very excited I've taken this step.

The wonderful teachers at the studio I manage put an incredible gift basket on my front step. It's the nicest thing ever - lots of great things to help with it - 2 massages at my fav place, bath fizzies, tea, lotion, some self-affirming little cards. . .

Shruthi read the blog then reminded me I don't have to cleanse until Monday, but I like to try new recipes and wanted to see how I would like them. . . I'm going to get a rice cooker tonight and eat popcorn for dinner while seeing Water for Elephants.

Shopping for the Cleanse

Sprouts opens at 7AM and I was there at 7:50A after I took the kids for their donut cleanse supplies and dropped them off at school. I was armed with a list of 21 items, many of which I'd never had pass my lips before:

GRAINS

Quinoa

Cream of buckwheat (I later learned this is not a grain, but a fruit?? Getouttahere.)

Basmati rice

millet (I thought this was birdseed?)

UNKNOWN

Mung dhal (my cleanse guide seems to exchange these two Mung deals for one another.)

Mung lentils (the Vietnamese woman at the checkout knew what these were and ran and got them for me.)

Ghee (no luck - I can substitute sunflower oil; I've seen Shruthi, my guide make it and it's a huge PITA.)

FRESH

green beans

cabbage

kale (hmm. Never had but got a bundle.)

collards (Again, never had, but will give it a go.)

lemon

Berries

Celery

shallot

DRIED

Dried prunes (I feel like a granny.)

Dried papaya/pineapple (Didn't get either yet. I only saw pineapple and it looked like it had sugar on it. My kids and I call papaya vomit fruit because of the way it smells.)

Raisins (These had heretofore annoyed me, but they and my new friends the prune satisfy my extremely active sweet tooth.)

SPICES

Ginger root (gnarly, dude - love ginger, but never had the whole root before.)

Cumin seed

Coriander powder

So after an hour of wandering the store looking for stuff, I was hungry. I came home and made the cream of buckwheat - 30 long minutes of waiting and stirring. It was great - loved the raisins in it for a bit of sweet, dumped in what I thought was too much cinnamon, but it was okay, and cardamom. I could have eaten both portions, but know I will be on the go tomorrow AM at 8 when I'm supposed to eat.

Needing a place to put these new things away from my regular groceries, I started cleaning out drawers and cabinets. We also have 2 upcoming parties at our house, so wiping down the crumbs and ick is a good idea anyway. Work, work, work, sort, sort, sort, wash, wash, wash for 3 hours and I'm hungry again.

The quinoa takes 30 minutes to cook. Nothing fast or easy it seems. I sauteed the kale in canola oil. Whatev. Very plain even with the garlic and the coriander seed. The kale was bitter. My middle name is bitter, but I don't like to eat it. I was hungry enough to not care.

Both meals I ate on our beautiful back deck in the spring sunshine instead in front of the computer, TV, or newspaper. That's a huge change. I am basically lazy, so I have become quite proficient at multi-tasking so I can lay around and chill later. It's almost 7 and I'm hungry now. Guess I'll eat the 2nd portion of the quinoa and maybe put some more kale or some collards in.

This is a huge lifestyle change for me. The "simple" lunch meal took 4 freaking pans.

Well, I now have clean cabinets and drawers, let's hope my innards get equally as clean.

Namaste.

Here We Go . . .

I can't believe I'm writing a blog. I'm a private person, own a small business, and have middle school children who would be embarrassed at mom writing a blog. Oh, well. I've been unable to channel the handwritten journals of yore into my life today. Trust that I have volumes already from my tumultuous 20s and 30s. Once I hit 40, my life hit warp speed, and the siren's call of the internet and reality TV took over the spare time I had between raising my children, being a wife and a stepmother and owning a yoga studio. So here I am.

I've wanted to do a cleanse for a while, but it was not until my good friend Shruthi offered one that I was totally in. I have eating secrets, dysfunctions that not many know, and though Shruthi doesn't know them all yet, she's gotten a taste. When I told her my daily intake included 6 cups of coffee per day, she thought I was kidding (and that was a low estimate some days.) I have admired the many Facebook and blog posts and word-of-mouth in my yoga community that people are doing a cleanse, have given up caffeine, are vegetarians, but I always backed off doing it myself.

How does Nutella fit into a cleanse? Red wine? Cheetos?

Seriously, I do have some God-awful habits, but being a self-proclaimed control freak, they're mine, ALL mine and it scares the bejesus out of me to have them taken into the light of day, examined and GASP! maybe changed.

So the pre-cleanse starts Saturday and that's when I start eliminating the beloved stuff from my diet. Monday through Thursday I'll be doing the cleanse itself, then Friday and Saturday I recover (ahem), I mean, integrate slowly back.

My friend's company is cardamomkitchen.net if you'd like to see more detail.

Here we go.